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[MUSIC PLAYING] The East India Company was established in 1600 as England's foremost trading company and rose to become an extraordinary force

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in global history for over 200 years. The company's unique collection of manuscript archives detailing its rich history forms the India Office Records, housed at the British Library in London.

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A substantial amount of this rare archive is now accessible online, following a collaboration between the British Library and publisher Adam Matthew. Researchers can explore the digitised material

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from the company's origins and early attempts to trade with Japan and Indonesia, its dominance over the tea and opium trade with China, through to the events leading to Indian independence following

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the Second World War. [MUSIC PLAYING] The India Office Records have got immense cultural value because they're part of the public records of Britain.

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And there are nine miles of them. So there really is a wealth of information contained in them. They include the archives of the East India Company, which was set up in 1600 to trade with the East.

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And the company had an amazing influence on British life because of the commodities it brought back. It really changed the way of life here. And also, people brought back stories and Asian influences

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as well. The India Office Records are a really rich source for the history of Britain and South Asia, as you would expect from the name.

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But they are also containing a great deal of information about East and South East Asia, which were important for the trade of the company. The archives include all sorts of information

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about people of key military, political, or economic and social significance and importance. But they're also a wonderful source of information about the everyday lives of people

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in Britain and Asia. What we've got in front of me here are the B/1 series of records, which are the records of the Court of Directors of the East India

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Company. And what I'm looking at now is the list of original investors in the company from December 1599. It's really a list of the great and the good

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of London, who invested quite heavily in the East India Company, looking to make money from trade with the East Indies. This document is incredibly valuable because it allows you to undertake an analysis of who

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it was who was investing in the Company and who it that was making money from the Company. In my research, I've used these documents very extensively and done a very detailed analysis of stockholder

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investment in the East India Company in the 18th century. It's hugely important to us to increase access to these collections because they contribute so much to our understanding of the history of Britain and Asia

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and the connections between East and West. Researchers will benefit enormously from being able to access these archives anywhere in the world. And we hope that as a result of that,

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they'll be encouraged to incorporate them into their university courses and bring on the researchers of the next generation. Online resources such as this make the archives

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much more easily searchable as well because of the way that they're presented. And the handwriting can be quite challenging sometimes. And one of the beauties of looking

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at the image on your computer is that you can zoom in. And that can make it much easier to decipher what you're looking at. And also, international collaboration

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between researchers ought to become a lot easier if they're all able to look at the same online resource so easily. The documents that have been digitised

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are part of what I call the backbone of this remarkable archive because they're so important. And there are so many discoveries waiting to be made that I'm sure that it will

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be the starting point for many new discoveries and new perspectives on history. The East India Company collection provides scholars with digital access

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to the core series of the India Office Records, dating from 1600 to 1947, documenting the rise of the East India Company and the foundations of the British Raj in India, allowing users to become immersed

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in the rich history of the Company. The vast array of material is broad in thematic scope, providing a wealth of new research opportunities, supplemented by additional features,

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including an interactive chronology, a split screen image viewer to enhance browsing and discoverability, scholarly essays, and interactive maps and graphs demonstrating trade routes to and from Asia.

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Through the careful conservation efforts and digitization of these records, the history of the East India Company is now available online to enhance teaching and research. To access the resource or to request a free trial visit

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www.amdigital.co.uk. [MUSIC PLAYING]